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Klieman closes out Town Hall series
(by Cindy Forrest - April 30, 2008)
“If the glove doesn’t fit you must acquit.”
Those were the words spoken by O.J. Simpson’s attorney Johnny Cochrane at the end of the legendary murder trial. Rikki Klieman, covering the proceedings for “Court TV,” was there to witness the event “gavel to gavel,” she told the audience of almost 600 area residents during the final event of the 2007/2008 season of the Town Hall of Morris lecture series.
Of course the inevitable question from the audience followed. “Was I surprised by the verdict - no. Should he have been convicted - yes,” said Klieman.
Television anchor, legal analyst, trial attorney, actor and best-selling author, Klieman is among the country‘s best known lawyers and legal authorities. However, the outspoken communicator has found success in multiple fields, including television journalism, the courtroom, academia and public speaking.
Her book is titled "Fairy Tales Can Come True" and to hear Klieman talk about her life, one starts to believe.
While her credits include the anchor spot at the Courtroom Television Network since 1994, a legal analyst for both CBS’s “Early Show” and NBC’s “Today Show” and a commentator on the Michael Jackson trial for the E! Network, it is the circuitous route that she took to fame that’s her real story.
“I knew from age 4 that I wanted to be an actress, a serious actress on the stage,” she said. Following the dream, Klieman went to Northwestern University where she was a theater major, then headed to New York City and what she anticipated to be a fabulous career. Yet it took the experience of just one major audition to convince her that show biz wasn’t for her.
“I was going out for the role of Appolonia in ‘The Godfather’ movie, you know the Italian girl that gets blown up in the car. Anyway, I was sure that the part was for me until I got off the elevator and saw a line with hundreds of girls just like me on it.”
In a flash she headed back to Northwestern to talk with one of her teachers, Professor Franklyn Haiman.
“All my life I’ve wanted to be an actress,” she told him. “Without that, I don’t have the faintest idea about what to do.”
Haiman told her she should think about going to law school, something that she had never considered.
Girls don’t go to law school,” she said. “No, but women do,” he said and with those four words changed the course of a life - Klieman’s life.
The law turned out to be the perfect fallback to an acting career.
“Trial law is all about performing,” said Klieman. She worked on both sides of the courtroom starting out as a prosecutor then moving to the right as a criminal defense attorney.
“The casino that is a courtroom can be likened to a crap table where you roll the dice knowing you are the only thing standing between your innocent client and a jail cell,” she said.
Klieman went directly from the courtroom to the O.J. trial and never looked back.
“If I had won the lottery during my nine years with Court TV, I would have gone back to work the next day,” she said of her first taste of television. “We were at a place in history covering that trial,” said Klieman. “ We were there every day. Unlike the commentators of today, for them it’s all about sound bites, it’s all about showing your expertise. If it looks good and it sounds good, it wins the day.”
Klieman lives with her husband, former New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, in Los Angeles where she has gone full circle back to her dream of being an actress. She continues to portray Cathy Burson, a lawyer for James Caan’s hotel and casino in NBC’s “Las Vegas” and Judge Dana Pearlman on CBS’s “Shark,” starring James Woods.
In 2005, she played Nora Rosenthal, a judge whose mother was murdered in “NYPD Blue.” In 2004, she portrayed Shannon, Rob Lowe’s office manager, on “Dr. Vegas.” She also appeared as herself, a Court TV anchor, in “Boston Legal” as well as the films “The Cable Guy” and “An American Tragedy” (based on the O.J. Simpson case). She played a reporter in the film version of “A Civil Action” with John Travolta, a reporter on the television show “The D.A.” and as a lawyer in the film “Fifteen Minutes” with Robert DeNiro and Ed Burns.
She also mentors young people and is joining in the fight against domestic violence - work in which she has been active since the 1970s.
The Town Hall of Morris lecture series is a non-profit organization that was begun 34 years ago by a group of 25 women. It continues today with a subscription membership of over 500 people. They meet at the Birchwood Manor for a lecture and lunch five times a year. Lecturers are renowned authors, columnists, humorists, physicians and entertainers. Past lecturers have included Doris Kearns Goodwin, Dr Ruth Westheimer, Jeffrey Lyons, Rita Moreno, Anna Quindlen, and Ronan Tynan.
Cindy Forrest can be contacted at: forrestc@northjersey.com.
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